Cmdbuild, open source software to manage the configuration of IT systems, is mature, says Antonio Scaramuzzi, head of the IT department at the administration of the Italian city of Udine. "Cmdbuild has made a jump in quality."
The web-based application helps to manage the configuration of desktop computers, servers and other IT system components. The software can be easily be combined with an open source help desk system, inventory application and document management tools. These are developed alongside the system management application.
The Udine city administration is closely involved in the development of Cmdbuild. It has been using this open source application since 2005. The city administration's IT department developed and improved the application together with Tecno Teca, an Italian open source IT services firm and Cogitek, an Italian IT consultancy.
In an interview with Italy's centre for IT in Public Administration (Cnipa) published in January, Scaramuzzi says Cmdbuild is ready to be used by other organisations. "It has an established open source development community and is used in production systems in increasing numbers."
The city at the time already used other open source systems, such as web server Apache and Samba, open source software allowing sharing of files between Microsoft bases computers and other systems. According to Scaramuzzi, adopting a similar model to develop the city's IT system management, would result in benefits for both the administration and the developers involved.
Cmdbuild is being used by other public administrations such as the city administrations in Pordenone, Bologna, Vigevano and Agrigento. Other users are the Regional Council of Tuscany
and the Italian Banking Association, says Scaramuzzi. "There are also a number of enterprises that are using it, but they do not want us to publish their names."
The adoption by these administrations and companies has resulted in improvement in functionality and usability, he says. "These are available to all. Most importantly, through our close contact with the developers of the software, we can influence the general development roadmap of the product and are involved in strategic issues."
More information:
Cnipa's Cmdbuild case study (in Italian)